Norwalk teen bakes up Grade-A 'burger' cake

St. Paul junior Tyler Smith never imagined he’d be taking cake orders, let alone spending much of his dealing with and creating confectionary masterpieces.

But even at the young age of 16, life doesn’t always go as expected.

“When I was younger, I never thought I’d be into something like this,” Smith said.

“Not many in my family were into cooking. My grandparents were though, so I’ve spent some time cooking with them. Then as I got older I realized my aunt was really into cake decorating and she convinced me to try it. There’s a lot of room to show your artistic ability, which I really liked. And then I got into the cake making and decorating. Over the last several months I’ve just been self-taught, like with YouTube videos, and my aunt helps me if I need it.”

It was love at first cake for Smith and five years later things are taking off.

Now he hands out business cards promoting his cake baking services. While it’s not a full-fledged business yet, Smith hopes he’ll be an official bakery chef someday.

His most recent confectionary adventure, though, led to him receiving a ribbon at the Huron County Fair.

For 4-H he recently make “a burger cake,” he said.

“I was told it looks really realistic. I was mainly just looking at ideas online. Even though I hadn’t been able to make it to the real judging because I had something else going on, I wanted to show the judges I could do better than it may seem like. The burger cake was something simple I had found but would take long time and I liked it.”

This burger had the works, each crafted by hand individually.

“It had mustard and ketchup, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, the patty itself, and on the bun I put sesame seeds,” he said. “It was a long process to make them. The whole cake itself with baking and cooling time took about eight hours.”

Smith said the judges were impressed, giving him an “A” on the project. Unfortunately, though, missing the original judging date cost Smith a chance at competing at the Ohio State Fair.

If you are unable to make it to original judging can’t give you a placement,” he said. “I just wish I could have made it to state, but I was unavailable.”

Smith isn’t giving up though and already has plans for the next fair.

“I hope to try to do it next year. I’m hoping I don’t have anything going on,” he said. “I already have the cake I want to do picked out.”

Anyone interested Smith’s cakes and services can call him at 419-750-4908.